The Hard Shoulder

Today, legislation was brought to Cabinet to enact the Government decision taken before Christmas to reduce welfare payments for new arrivals from Ukraine. Ukrainians arriving in Ireland in the coming weeks will receive an expense allowance of €38.80 a week, which is down from the current jobseeker's rate of €232 per week. Kieran was joined by Tom McEnaney, Media consultant and founder of Effective Aid Ukraine, Michael Baskin, From the Ukrainian Crisis Centre in Ireland and Nadia Dobrianska, Ukrainian in Ireland...  

This is the Afternoon Update – The Hard Shoulder’s daily catch up on the day's news. Today, Kieran was joined by Brianna Parkins, Columnist with The Irish Times and John Lee Executive, Editor Daily Mail Group Ireland to chat through today's top stories...

This is The Soapbox. Today, David Quinn, Columnist with the Irish independent joined Kieran to discuss public debate and how people are shutting down certain sides of the debate if it doesn’t suit a narrative...

The return to school after the Christmas holidays can result in many children catching the common cold, but what can appear to be a simple cold can become more serious.  Consultant Pediatrician, Dr. Niamh Lynch, joined Kieran to discuss what to do when a simple cold becomes more serious…  

Legendary German Footballer Franz Beckenbauer has passed away at the age of 78.  Nathan Murphy from Off the Ball joined Kieran to discuss...

There has been a record numbers of visas granted to young Irish people heading to Australia. Along with this, we’re seeing reports today of staff at the National Maternity Hospital  commuting 2½ hours to work due to Dublin living costs How can we address this and help people to live in our city and also encourage people to stay here in Ireland and lend their expertise and skills to our services rather than moving to the Austalia, Canada or the UK. Kieran was joined by Professor Shane Higgins, Master of the National Maternity Hospital and Aodhan O’Riordain, Labour TD for Dublin Bay North, as well as their Education and Justice spokesperson...

Ireland is in the midst of a cold snap at the moment with temperatures expected to drop as low as minus 5 degrees in some areas tonight. Met Éireann has issued a Status Yellow low temperature and ice warning for the entire country which will be in place from 9pm tonight until 10am tomorrow morning. Kieran was joined by Joanna Donnelly from Met Eireann and Shane O’Donoghue, Editor for CompleteCar.ie to discuss...  

This is the Afternoon Update – The Hard Shoulder’s daily catch up on the day's news. Today, Kieran was joined by Kevin Doyle, Group Head of News at Mediahuis and Ian Power, CEO of SpunOut to chat through today's top stories...

Whether it’s down to financial needs, the thrill of adventure, or just seeking a better way of life, the Irish have been flocking abroad for generations.Record numbers of visas have been granted for young Irish people heading to Australia.Newstalk reporter, Josh Crosbie was there himself and he’s been looking into this for us.

Every week Kieran Cuddihy will be joined by writer and broadcaster, Keith Walsh and Saoirse Hanley, Features writer with Sunday Independent and Sunday World to look back on the week that was, but with a few twists..

Aisling Larkin, Mindful Eating Coach and TV Chef joined Kieran today to chat through some of her top tips for Christmas dinner...

Off The Ball's Mick McCarthy joined Kieran Cuddihy on The Hard Shoulder to review the week in sport and look ahead to the weekend action...

The young are caught in a grotesquely unfair trap, those are the words from Gerard Howlin in the Irish Times today. According to his piece, more needs to be asked of the older generation as with declining birthrates and an increasingly ageing population, there is a going to be a massive financial burden place on younger generations. Gerard Howlin, Public Affairs consultant and Irish Times columnist joined Kieran on The Hard Shoulder today...

Room to Improve is back for another season this Sunday on RTÉ One.Kieran was joined in studio by Dermot Bannon and Claire Irwin to chat about what to expect from the new season...Image: RTÉ

The Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue speaking to the Irish Examiner has said restaurants and food outlets need to cut down on the amount of food they put on customers plates to reduce waste. He also wants to ban the doggy bag. Newstalk's Henry McKean joined Kieran with this report...

This is the Afternoon Update – The Hard Shoulder’s daily catch up on the day's news. Today, Kieran was joined by Niamh Maher, Commercial Creative Director with Journal Media and Laura Donnelly, News Editor and Anchor with Baure Media Group... 

Details are continuing to emerge on what the upcoming review in to Ireland’s handling of the Covid pandemic might look like. The Irish Times today reporting that the inquiry is likely to hear from frontline health workers and families who lost loved ones. It also says the inquiry is expected to last around 18 months.Kieran was joined by Kingston Mills, Professor of Experimental Immunology at Trinity College Dublin and Mervyn Taylor, CEO of Sage Advocacy, National advocacy service for older people to discuss...

Kieran was joined on The Hard Shoulder by Dr. Harriet Treacy, founder of Beyond BMI, who believes that obesity management has been hijacked by the beach body industry rather than having a medical approach to the disease 

Court records that were used to prosecute Jeffery Epstein's girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell have been released  The documents detail the personal connections Epstain had to Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton and Stephen Hawking. Kieran was joined from New York by legal reporter with Bloomberg News Ava Benny Morrison...

Details are continuing to emerge on what the upcoming review in to Ireland’s handling of the Covid pandemic might look like. The Irish Times today reporting that the inquiry is likely to hear from frontline health workers and families who lost loved ones. It also says the inquiry is expected to last around 18 months. Kieran was joined by Professor Sam McConkey Infectious Disease Specialist at the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland and Michael McNamara - Independent TD for Clare and former chair of Oireachtas Covid Committee to discuss...

It appears 007 is about to come with a trigger warning.  At a new season of classic movies at the British Film Insititute in London, all Bond films have the following warning - “Please note that many of these films contain language, images or other content that reflect views prevalent in its time, but will cause offence today.” John Fardy, Presenter of Screentime on Newstalk

According to the National Car Testing Service, nearly half of all 1.5 million cars failed their NCT last year.  Why is this the case and does the NCT system need some revision or changes?  Kieran was joined by Conor Faughnan, Transport Commentator and Michael Collins Independent TD

This is the Afternoon Update – The Hard Shoulder’s daily catch up on the day's news. Today, Kieran was joined by Fionnán Sheehan Ireland Editor at the Irish Independent and Shane Hannon, Presenter from Off The Ball to chat through today's top stories...

Newstalk's own, Simon Tierney joined Kieran Cuddihy for the series 'The Shopping Trolley Hotline'. The series will give listeners pause when they’re filling their trolleys, to consider their options this new year. This week Simon and Kieran put a variety of non-alcoholic beers to the test...

That was the moment that 16 year old sensation Luke Littler reached the World Championship Darts final last night. Can he go one step further at the Alexandra Palace in London and beat World Number 1 Luke Humphreys to become the World Champion? Laura Turner, Darts player and Sky commentator joined Kieran to discuss...

Today the CSO released their year review of 2023 to paint a picture of Ireland and how it did overall with regards to personal finances, inflation, mortgage rates, housing, cost of living, gender-based violence...you name it Kieran was joined by Dan O’Brien, Chief Economist of the Institute of International and European Affairs and John Fitzgerald, Adjunct Professor in Economics at Trinty College Dublin...

It’s a new year so what better time to get your finances in order. Kieran was joined by Eoin McGee, Financial Planner and the presenter of new RTÉ TV show The Complaints Bureau... 

In 2018 the HSE recommended that hospitals should have a parking cap of 10 euros per day  2024 is upon us. And the introduction of the cap is set to be delayed even further  CEO of the Irish Cancer Society Averil Power and John Wall, Cancer survivor and advocate joined Kieran to discuss...

This is the Afternoon Update – The Hard Shoulder’s daily catch up on the day's news. Today, Kieran was joined by Aideen Finnegan, Podcast Producer with the Irish Times and Ian O’Doherty, Columnist with the Irish Independent...

Micheál Martin has said it is not feasible to ban children from using social media, but said the government could be stronger in warning of its hazards and spoke about social ‘contracts’ schools could adopt when dealing with the use of their students and social media Should social media be banned to certain age groups or what are the best ways to tackle the dangers that come with it to aid our children Kieran was joined by Stella O Malley, Psychotherapist and Author of 'What your teen is trying to tell you'...

Alice Leahy, from the Alice Leahy Trust joined Kieran Cuddihy on The Hard Shoulder to discuss some of her favourite books...

Investigations are continuing into a fire at a disused pub in Ringsend in Dublin that had been earmarked for use for homeless accommodation. Speculation in the area had suggested the site could be used for refugee accommodation while local councillors have criticised the lack of communication from the Dublin Region Homeless Executive. Kieran was joined by Teresa Buckowska, formerly of the Immigration Council of Ireland and migrants rights expert...

Micheál Martin has said it is not feasible to ban children from using social media, but said the government could be stronger in warning of its hazards and spoke about social ‘contracts’ schools could adopt when dealing with the use of their students and social media Are the government doing enough? Are we at a crisis point when to comes to our children and their access and usage of social media? Kieran was joined by Jen Hogan, Journalist and Columnist with The Irish Times and Philip Arneill Head of Education at CyberSafeKids...  

Israel has confirmed it is pulling some of its forces out of Gaza but it does appear there is no end in sight for the war with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggesting the war will last “many months.” Kieran was joined by General Sir Richard Barrons who previously served as one of the six ‘Chiefs of Staff’ leading the UK Armed Forces and is now the co chairman of Universal Defence and Security Solutions...

This is the Afternoon Update – The Hard Shoulder’s daily catch up on the news. Today, Kieran was joined by Daniel McConnell, Editor of the Business Post and Sean O’Regan, Newstalk reporter.... 

Kieran Cuddihy was joined by writer and broadcaster, Keith Walsh and the presenter of Weekend Breakfast on Today FM, Alison Curtis and Comedian Jim Elliott to look back on the year of 2023...

Aisling Larkin, Mindful Eating Coach and TV Chef joined Kieran today to chat through some of her top tips for Christmas dinner...

As we wind up for the Christmas period, it’s good to spend the festive season reflecting on the year and looking ahead to 2024. To offer a Christmas message at this is a spiritual time of year, Fr Brian D’Arcy, Author and Broadcaster joined Kieran on the show today...

Yesterday on the show we were talking about the big pop culture moments of 2023 and you could not omit Taylor Swift from that list. From her Era’s tour, to her box office hit movie and being named Time Person of the Year, it’s fair to say 2023 was Taylor’s year. But not everyone agreed. We got this text in “Taylor Swift-the rebirth of bubble gum, junior infants songwriting laced with mediocre melodies”. So...clearly not a fan That text got the attention of none other than Dave Browne, From Picturehouse, who joined Kieran today to speak in defence of poor Taylor...

We are just 3 days away from the big day but for many on the day they will be looking for their local Christmas Day Swim.  Bríd Graham Owner and Director of Splash Swim Schools Ireland and a swimming teacher joined Kieran on the show to discuss...

Now 2023 has been an impactful year for news between conflict, riots and politic ongoings.  However, we are going to put that to one side for now and take positive look back at some of the good news stories of the last year... Rachael Ryan From 98fm joined Kieran on the show to discuss..

Tom Doorley, Food and wine columnist with the Sunday Times is here to talk us through his own dinner plans and how other countries celebrate Christmas...

Emmet Oliver, The Hard Shoulder’s Business Correspondent joined Kieran on the show to take a look back at the year in business...

Golfer Padraig Harrington joined Kieran on The Hard Shoulder to discuss how to get more kids involved in sport and what the future looks like for world golf...

Author, podcaster and playwright, Michael Harding joined Kieran on The Hard Shoulder today for a catch up...

Miguel Delaney, Chief Football Writer for the Independent in the UK joined Kieran to discuss a court of justice ruling on the European Super League project...

There has been a wealth of wins, losses and plenty of gaffs along the way when it comes to the culture events this year.   We take a look back at some of the moments which really captured the news at the time.  Brian Lloyd Movies Editor with Entertainment.ie joined Kieran to discuss...

The Irish public have spoken about what animals and flowers should appear on the Irish passport, with the Irish Wolfhound and Shamrock topping their respective lists. But should we just be considering just animals and flowers, and if so, what symbols should be picked to best represent Ireland.  Saoirse Hanley, Features writer with the Irish Independent, Steve Cummins, Comedian and co-founder of ZoomParty.ie and Claire Ronan Broadcaster joined Kieran to discuss...

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly joined Kieran on The Hard Shoulder to discuss record overcrowding in hospitals in 2023, work underway on the new National Maternity Hospital on Vincent’s Campus, funding for adult hospices and Mary Lou McDonald's calls for Robbie Keane to resign as Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. manager...

Newstalk's own, Simon Tierney joined Kieran Cuddihy for the series 'The Shopping Trolley Hotline'. The series will give listeners pause when they’re filling their trolleys, to consider their options this festive season. This week Simon and Kieran put a variety of Christmas Puddings to the test...